Akoya Biosciences (Akoya), a Telegraph Hill Partners (THP) company, has acquired PerkinElmer, Inc.’s Phenoptics™ portfolio. Akoya was founded in 2015 to commercialize the CODEX® multiparameter tissue analysis technology developed in the lab of Dr. Garry Nolan at Stanford University. PerkinElmer has grown its Phenoptics business, to be an industry leader in multiplex immunofluorescence. This acquisition establishes Akoya as a leading provider of quantitative tissue biomarker evaluation, from discovery through translational and clinical research.

High-parameter analysis of biological tissue samples provides critical spatial context in studies of autoimmune disease, immune-oncology and many other research areas. The Phenoptics portfolio, with its Mantra®, Vectra® and Vectra Polaris® systems, provides the throughput and standardization required to support large-scale translational studies. Its multispectral imaging instruments, reagents, software and research services have been adopted by hundreds of labs globally. CODEX enables biomarker discovery with detection of up to 50 markers on a single tissue section with reagents and instrumentation that integrate with our customer’s existing microscopes. CODEX includes optimized assay reagents combined with validated antibodies labeled with proprietary CODEX Barcodes to enable a simple, automated workflow.

Concurrent with the acquisition, PerkinElmer’s Phenoptics team’s management, R&D, sales and support staff have joined Akoya. Akoya will continue to operate this team out of the greater Boston area and maintain headquarters in Menlo Park, CA. Brian McKelligon will remain as Chief Executive Officer of Akoya and Terry Lo, General Manager of the Phenoptics team at PerkinElmer, will join Akoya as President.

“With both the Phenoptics portfolio and CODEX, Akoya will provide our customers with a full suite of end-to-end solutions for high parameter tissue analysis,” said Brian McKelligon, CEO of Akoya. “We now have the team and technologies to develop and deliver transformational solutions in the rapidly advancing field of tissue imaging.”

“The PerkinElmer Phenoptics team created a powerful solution already deployed at leading academic and biopharmaceutical companies with a focus on immuno-oncology,” said Terry Lo, President of Akoya. “We are excited to now join Akoya and catalyze further development of the Phenoptics platform as a leading technology for tissue analysis.”

Telegraph Hill Partners has provided Akoya with additional funding to support further growth of the organization and continue technology and product development. “By having one company with the capabilities of Phenoptics and CODEX, both PerkinElmer and THP saw the opportunity to establish the most advanced and complete solution for multiplexed tissue analysis,” said Robert Shepler, Managing Director of THP. “PerkinElmer was excellent throughout the process, and we look forward to further collaborations with them.”

Akoya will be showcasing the latest developments from CODEX (booth #208) and the Phenoptics solutions (booth #523) at the SITC annual meeting in Washington, DC. on November 7-11. Akoya will be hosting an evening symposium featuring Dr. David Rimm, Yale University and Dr. Julia Kennedy-Darling, Akoya Biosciences.

Akoya Dinner Symposium: Innovations in high parameter spatial analysis to study the tumor microenvironment Date: Thursday, November 8th, 7:00 to 8:30 pm Agenda: Measuring and Multiplexing for in situ Diagnostic Tests Dr. David Rimm, MD, Ph.D. Professor of Pathology, Yale University School of Medicine

Akoya Biosciences develops innovative technologies for life science researchers to enable spatially-resolved, quantitative tissue phenotyping at the cellular and subcellular level. The combined technologies of Phenoptics and CODEX are fueling advances in next generation tissue analysis by providing comprehensive solutions including instrumentation, reagents and software. Akoya Biosciences is headquartered in Menlo Park, CA.